Mayor of Durango: This Municipality institutionally recognises the Autonomous Administration

The municipality of Durango welcomed Nariman Evdike, Rawda Hasan and Manal Mohammad on Tuesday with an official reception at the City Hall. The Kurdish delegation is in Euskal Herria to strengthen the relationship between the two peoples. Durango is twinned with the city of Kobane and, like Kobane, shared memories of war. The twinning agreement was signed in 2017.

Ima Garrastatxu, the mayor of Durango, said she was very “proud” to have helped build the Women’s Academy in Kobane. “It has been our seed in defeating the blockade that was imposed on you,” she told the Kurdish delegation.

Garrastatxu expressed her great joy at the visit of the Kurdish delegation and added: “This solidarity, which is 5,000 kilometers away, is warm and strong. Many years ago our people were bombed and the wounds have not yet healed because there has been no justice.”

The mayor then announced the institutional recognition of the Autonomous Administration. “From the Durango City Council we want to institutionally recognize the Kurdish institutions created in recent years, especially the Autonomous Administration, and we will continue to offer you help as we have up to now,” she said, adding: “We do not want only to cite the high price you have paid, because, beyond your resistance and courage, we want to highlight that the Kurdish people have been able to build bridges with other peoples of Syria, Christians, Arabs, yazidis, etcetera. And, above all, that you have been able to create an Autonomous Administration supporting women and minorities.”

Rawda Hasan, the Minister of Culture of the canton of Jazira acknowledged that seeing Durango completely renovated after the bombing gives them “a lot of morale”. It should be noted that 70% of the buildings in Kobane were completely destroyed as a result of the battles against jihadism in 2014. Afterwards, Hasan thanked the Otxandio, Gernika and, above all, Durango municipalities for the recognition of the Autonomous Administration.